According to The Inquirer’s Pulitzer Prize-winning series “Assault on Learning,” Philadelphia’s public schools have a bit of a violence problem.
From 2005-06 through 2009-10, the district reported 30,333 serious incidents, including 19,752 assaults, 4,327 weapons infractions, 2,037 drug- and alcohol-related violations, and 1,186 robberies. Students were beaten by their peers in libraries and had their hair pulled out by gangs. Teachers were assaulted more than 4,000 times.
So how has the School Reform Commission responded? By easing its student code of conduct and other disciplinary policies. In particular, the commission wants to cut down on out-of-school suspensions. . . .
This is an excerpt from my commentary in today’s Philadelphia Inquirer, “The injustice schools ignore.” Please click here to read the entire article. You can respond or provide feedback by clicking on the comment button below.
Thanks for reading.
–Christopher Paslay
Chalk and Talk 